Previews

The Interrogation Room: Metro: Last Light

Welcome to the Interrogation Room, GameSpy's signature pre-release game coverage format. Here, a GameSpy editor (typically one who's relatively in-the-dark about the game in question) grills his peers for information on a hotly anticipated game -- hopefully with more entertaining results than the typical boilerplate preview would
provide.

Mike Sharkey, News Editor: Metro 2033 is a bona fide cult classic, thanks to its stunning visuals and immersive, intense storyline. And developer 4-A Games evidently has even bigger plans for its sequel, Metro: Last Light, don't they, Will? What stood out to you the most about this upcoming post-apocalyptic first-person shooter?

Will Tuttle, Editor in Chief: Perhaps not surprisingly, I'd say the game's most impressive features are (wait for it) its stunning visuals and immersive, intense storyline. During the demo we saw (which, by the way, was running beautifully on a PC with a year-old Nvidia GTX 480 card), lead character Artyom is older and wiser, as it takes place several years after Metro 2033. Moscow's layer of ice has begun to melt, and the toxic skies have begun to clear a bit, yet the majority of the population still lives underground in the subway system. With the populace splintered into different factions across the system's various terminals, a war for survival still rages on. Best of all, the developers took players' criticisms to heart, as they've attempted to fix some of the issues that plagued the original game.

Mike Sharkey: The original was certainly flawed, with enemy A.I. that often didn't include any "I" at all. What exactly did you see of Last Light? Does it appear that the bad guys got some upgrades?

Will Tuttle: From what I could tell, the A.I. was definitely improved, as I watched enemies trying to flank and suppress Artyom after a firefight broke out. To be honest, though, they didn't have a lot of chances to show off, as Artyom relied pretty heavily (and pretty successfully) on stealth to make his way through the tunnels. When the demo kicked off, Artyom was hiding in the dark behind a bit of debris as two guards outfitted with miner's helmets casually strolled by, oblivious to the fate about to befall them. Artyom's wrist is outfitted with a light sensor that shines green when he's completely obscured and red when he's caught in bright lights, allowing him to move carefully through the shadows. Of course, the fact that he can shoot out lights (or, in one case, extinguish a campfire by shooting and knocking over the water boiling above it) helps a lot, though we still don't know whether any of the stealth sequences are forced upon you, or if they're all self-imposed. I don't know about you, but I'm going to play as stealthily as possible.

Mike Sharkey: Sneaking around the Moscow metro with a light meter, eh? Sounds like that will work well on the game's human antagonists, but what about the mutated ones? All sorts of nasty radiated beasties came out to play in the original; are they making a comeback in Last Light?

Will Tuttle: It definitely looks like that will be the case, as our demo ended with a brief look at a brand-new creature that could best be described as a bull mutant. This terrifying behemoth smashed through a wall and charged at Artyom, crushing the smaller mutants in his path. We really only saw a snippet of this section, however, as the majority of the demo revolved around straight-up combat with some new human enemies. The sequence we saw involved the aforementioned stealth takedowns, but it only took a few moments before the action ramped-up and became a full-on firefight with the Reich, a neo-Nazi faction that's captured one of our hero's allies. It remains to be seen if the entire game revolves around this group, as the developers made some comments about many different factions with many different worldviews taking up residence in the subway's various stations.

Mike Sharkey: So how did all of this look? Metro 2033 is one of those games PC players love to proudly max out after they've upgraded their rigs. Will we enjoy a similar digital feast for the eyes in Last Light?

Will Tuttle: Last Light is definitely one of the best-looking games I've ever seen, especially in the lighting department. It's really a great-looking game and, as I mentioned earlier, it wasn't even running on a top-of-the-line machine. I can only imagine how ridiculous it will look on a crazy $5,000 rig. I was also really impressed by some of the destructible environments, as I remember one moment when I watched the player chip away at an enemy's cover. In another, I watched as he shot a hanging lantern to burn away some crates in order to get a better chance at tagging his foes.

Mike Sharkey: Sounds like you were impressed by what you saw. Anything else you want to share with our readers about Metro: Last Light?

Will Tuttle: I was definitely impressed, but one of my favorite things was something that I'm sure some people will barely even notice: Given the fact that the game takes place underground and the survivors need to scrounge for every last bit of gear, a lot of weapons look as if they'd been cobbled together piecemeal, using parts from everyday items. The most obvious example is a Gatling gun that features a bike chain and a pneumatic pump, and actually requires you to re-chain it after loading new ammo and before priming the pump to build up enough pressure to fire it. It's a pretty small feature in the grand scheme of things, but it really helps to create a universe that feels quasi-authentic.